The European Parliament’s ITRE Committee approves new measures to mainstream renewable energy in heating & cooling up to 2030 in landmark vote on the new RES Directive

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PUBLISHED: November 28, 2017

Renewable Heating & Cooling associations welcome the ambition level and call on the Council to uphold it.

Brussels, 28th November 2017 – The associations representing the renewable heating & cooling (RES-H&C) industries, AEBIOM, EGEC and Solar Heat Europe, welcome the adoption of a new, key measure to promote further deployment of RES-H&C up to 2030 (Art. 23), in the report on the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive, voted by the ITRE Committee today.

While greatly appreciative of the ambition of MEP Blanco Lopez’s report in the level of yearly increase of RES-H&C, the industries regret that such ambition is not matched with binding obligations on Member States. This would have ensured the best framework to unlock the RES-H&C potential in Europe, creating a strong market for RES-H&C technologies and ensuring EU’s global leadership in the sector. However, provisions for reporting progress on the article’s objective might partly compensate for the lack of a binding target, giving the industry enough information and perspective for investments, and setting accountability for the Member States.

The report contains other important tools to promote the decarbonisation of heating, such as measures towards the greening of district heating (Art. 24), or the reinforcement of measures for the deployment of RES in new buildings (Art. 15), complementing the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive measures voted on the 11th of October.

Today’s vote is a step in the right direction. These measures are highly welcomed, and show the European Parliament’s commitment to reaching its long-term climate and energy objectives. Decarbonising EU’s heating sector is a major challenge for Member States, as well as an opportunity for generating local jobs, fostering growth, establishing energy independence and creating healthier environments. The European Commission and the Member States in the Council must now join the Parliament in its commitment to tackle Europe’s climate and energy challenge.

ANNEX – Quotes

“The vote in European Parliament on the Renewable and the Energy Efficiency Directives puts the heating and cooling sector on track to be freed from fossil fuels. Decarbonising the heating and cooling sector can only be done by exploiting synergies between energy efficiency and renewable policies in terms of actions, technologies and ambitious policies.” says Philippe Dumas, EGEC Secretary General.

“The building sector is about 40% of EU’s total energy consumption, and most of this is heating. Tackling it is essential for a full decarbonisation of our economies. We warmly welcome the constructive approach on promoting RES in new buildings taken today by the European Parliament” says Pedro Dias, Solar Heat Europe Secretary General.

“This vote shows the European Parliament understanding that tackling the H&C sector is essential to reach our long-term climate objectives. We hope the Council will follow this approach and acknowledge the underlying economic and environmental benefits of decarbonising the H&C sector” says Jean-Marc Jossart, AEBIOM Secretary General.